The fourth edition of the CuatroGatos Wine Festival was quite different from last year’s event. This time it was held inside a lovely hacienda on the outskirts of El Puerto de Santa María and there was also the promise of a special dish prepared by Michelin star chef Ángel León. I met my friend Tomoko @Fu_yan at the train station and, having just missed the Wine Bus, got a taxi over.
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It was a great afternoon revisiting old friends and making new ones. And thanks to Tomoko I tried several wines I may not have otherwise (brand new love is La Choza by Bodega Callejuela). I was also happy to discover that several of the wines I liked are available in Sevilla, and almost all of them at Ana Linares’s fabulous wine shop Lama La Uva (will be visiting her soon!)
Tomoko and CuatroGatos founder Federico Ferrer
Although there were a lot more food options this year, with several stands set up on the patio, Tomoko and I decided to walk over to Restaurante El Faro so we could sit down for awhile and, frankly, have a nicer lunch. 😉 Which you can see, we did indeed have. The only thing was that by the time we got back to the event, several of the producers were already packing up (!!). Since they were offering another Wine Bus back to the train station around 8 pm we assumed that the producers were going to stay around longer. Oh well. It was still a fabulous day and great to hang out with Tomoko again.
spectacular lunch at Restaurante El Faro
Calçots are basically a type of green onion that are milder than regular onions, with a length of between 15 and 25 cm (white part). The Calçotada is an annual event in Catalonia celebrating the harvest of Calçots. They are grilled over a hot fire, wrapped up in newspaper to steam a bit, served on terra cotta tiles and eaten, after peeling with bare hands, by dipping them one by one in romesco sauce, accompanied by red wine and bread. Typically followed by a course of roasted lamb and sausage and white beans. For dessert, oranges and cava are served…
casa azahar 